A little introduction since this is my first Mets Farm Report for MMO. Each night I plan to bring a recap on the news and notes on the happenings for all of the Mets minor league affiliates, as well as bringing some other analysis on the state of the farm.

I do a three stars of the game that is very similar to that of NHL games. Prospects receive three points for being awarded the No. 1 star, two points for the No. 2 star, and one point for the No. 3 star. The complete leaderboards can be found here over at my blog.

Buffalo Bisons 1 | Gwinnett Braves 7

You gotta love the Mets’ farm system. The Braves throw out the best pitching prospect in baseball and the Mets counter with 29-year-old journey man Pat Misch. With that in mind, the game went just as expected. Misch continued to struggle with his command, either missing wildly or catching too much of the plate, and Teheran dominated. Even with a Gwinnett team that was laboring at the plate they were able to make hard contact all game long against Misch.

A Kirk Nieuwenhuis sighting! This was Nieuwenhuis’s first game back after needing to sit out 10 days due to a bruised shoulder he suffered while making a highlight reel catch. Lucas Duda did some damage against a very good pitcher by picking up both his double and walk off Teheran. Since returning from the DL a little over a week ago Duda is hitting .429/.529/1.036 with two doubles, five homeruns, nine runs scored, nine RBIs, and a spectacular 6:7 K:BB. If there was ever a time to call him up and give him a shot at first base, his natural position, the time is now.

Binghamton Mets 7 | Akron Aeros 4

Oy vey. Every game Brad Holt starts seems to follow the same pattern. He begins the game cruising along (as he did tonight giving up a single in the 1st inning and homerun in the 2nd, but getting through the inning with relative ease) and then he just implodes. The runs didn’t pile up on him tonight, but it wasn’t pretty. He loaded the bases with no outs in the 3rd by walking the first two men and then giving up a single before some how flipping a switch in his head and striking out the next two batters then inducing a weak fly out to get of the jam. He labored through the 4th and then let the first two men on in the 5th and needed Roy Merritt to come in and bail him out. Holt has shown no progression this year and these constant jams are going to catch up to him eventually. A move to the pen should be in store soon for him.

This game was a good example of Allan Dykstra‘s ultimate ceiling. A first baseman who can work the count, get on base, and hit the ball hard somewhere. His power numbers haven’t been great, but he has hit the ball with authority as even on his two-out groundball single up the middle, he hit the ball so hard that neither middle infielder had a chance to get the ball. He just needs to cut down on those strikeouts.

St. Lucie Mets 0 | Palm Beach Cardinals 3

Something continues to intrigue me about Scott Moviel despite the less than stellar performances while repeating a league and having the second worst K-rate of any pitcher in the league. Maybe it is his 6’11″ frame that makes me think he will just need some extra time to put everything together and he hasn’t been awful while trying to do so. Or maybe it is his elite groundball rates (picked up 12 more groundball outs tonight) that has enabled him to pitch out of so many jams. He is still making a little bit of a believer out of me.

After a solid output last night the offense was abysmal today. The lone bright spot today was Jefry Marte who picked up three walks. This is an extremely hot and cold lineup, which helps explains why they were on such a tear for the first 25 games of the season and on such a downward spiral in the last 25 games.

Savannah Sand Gnats 2 | Kannapolis Intimidators 4

This was the first rough outing of the year for Gonzalez German, who has been another one of the pleasant pitching surprises on this Sand Gnats staff. What impresses me most about him is even in a game like this one where he is getting hit relatively hard he has been able to last deep into the outings. He has pitched five innings or more in the last seven outings and pitched into the 7th inning in five of those games. A rare skill for a pitcher at this level.

It is about time to highlight Albert Cordero, who I thought was a big sleeper entering the year. He had success in the VSL, but didn’t really burst onto the scene until he had a breakout year last year in Kingsport. He didn’t walk much, but the hit tool looked above-average and the power was very good for a catcher his age. This year, there has been no positive way to spin his season. He has just one walk in 122 at-bats, the strikeouts have doubled, and the power has vanished. He is still just 21-years-old this season so there is time for improvements, but the future isn’t looking too bright.

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